Heart of a Ghost
by Gnomleus
Summary: Going with the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, this one-shot takes place a day after the funeral. Chloe is a ghost in Max's dorm, not knowing how she got there. Max is completely heartbroken after making her choice and Chloe can only watch and comfort Max in spirit as she drowns herself in tears. This is full of intense feels, so get your tissues ready. Rated T for strong language.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Life Is Strange, I'm just another huge fan of the growing series.

 **Author's Note:** This is my take on Chloe as a ghost after the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending. This took me a little while to write and I kept going over it again and again, making sure everything was good and decent enough to understand. Personally, I never sacrifice Chloe because I'm a die-hard Pricefield shipper, but I'm a sucker for writing anything to do with sadness and loss. I thought to myself; "Could I make a one-shot about this without crying a lot?" Well, to tell you the truth, I **did** cry a lot. If I can make myself cry with my own writing, watch out. You're going to be hit hard by the feels here. I really hope you enjoy this! Let me know what you think! :)

 **Content Note:** Rated T for strong language. I'm looking at you, Chloe.

* * *

 **Heart of a Ghost**

I sat on the edge of Max's bed in her dorm room with my hands held together on my lap. It was after dark and the only light in the room was coming from a small lamp on the computer desk, creating a dimly lit atmosphere. I looked around and let out a bored sigh as I waited for Max to come home. Poor girl, she hasn't stopped crying since the funeral yesterday. My funeral...

I can't quite remember how the fuck I'm still here because I'm supposed to be, you know… dead and all. I looked at my hands and moved my fingers up and down, then I pulled on the hem of my white shirt. I couldn't understand it myself but… I was still me, wearing the same old clothes. Was I a spirit? A ghost?

I looked towards the door nearby as it unlocked and opened… and there stood Max, silhouetted in darkness. I couldn't quite see her face but I could hear her sniffling a little. She carried some kind of box in both hands as she took a few steps into the room, then placed it on the bed beside me. She turned back towards the door, closed it, then flipped the light switch. She was the first thing I saw when the room lit up.

Holy shitballs… Max was a complete mess. Her eyes were watering and her freckled face was red and swollen from crying so hard. I watched her lips tremble as she glanced around the room, looking sad as fuck. She wore a royal blue dress that went down to her kneecaps, it looked hella beautiful on her. Wowser, as Max would say.

"Hey, Max," I said to her softly as she walked past me.

She sat in the chair at the front of her desk and immediately rested a hand on the side of her head. I watched her intently as she just sat there, then I saw her shake a little as I heard more sniffles, then finally… she broke down crying.

I quickly rushed over and kneeled down beside Max, gazing at the side of her face while watching the tears stream down her cheeks. She was really crying her heart out. I put a hand on her shoulder and it went right through her, then I raised it up a little as if it really was on her shoulder.

"It hurts, Chloe…" Max started sadly, her voice breaking. "I can't do this without you..." Then, she quickly folded her arms down on her desk and buried her face in between them, crying even louder.

"I'm right here, Max…" I replied with a little smile. "I'm never leaving you."

She must have cried for a good five minutes and I never left her side during all of that time. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Doesn't matter if I'm a spirit or… whateves, I still love that hippie.

Max lifted her head up and sniffled as she wiped the tears away with an arm. Her face was redder than before and completely drenched, but she finally stopped crying. She slowly got up from the desk and walked over to the bed with her arms dangling beside her, then she sat down next to the box she brought in a little while ago.

I followed Max to the bed and sat down with the box close between us. She stared down at it and placed her hands on the cardboard lid while taking a couple of deep, shaky breaths. She curled her fingers along the edges to take the lid off, then paused all of a sudden. The expression on her face told me that she wasn't quite ready to look inside. Shit, what was in there?

"I can do this..." Max said to herself with another deep breath, then she pulled the lid off.

I leaned over a bit to see inside the box. Fuck, it was all my stuff, well... only what mattered anyway. My pirate hat was in there, my snow globe, mine and Rachel's clothes, some photos, even some old drawings that Max and I did as kids. It was all so... surreal to look it, and sad.

"This is all yours now, Max," I said softly, glancing at her with a smile.

Max picked up a photo on top of everything else, flipped it over, then stared at it. I leaned over some more to get a better look and… it was us when we were younger, dressed as pirates.

"Arggh, Max!" I said with an English pirate accent and a little laugh. Then I added normally; "We had so much fun that day, huh?"

I turned my head to look back at her face and she placed the other hand over her mouth, then closed her eyes while a lone tear fell down her cheek. She was trying to hold back from crying again, but... it was too late. She trembled and dropped the photo to the floor, then cried loudly with both hands on her face.

"No, no, no..." I said calmly, hovering my arm across her back as if I was comforting her. "Max, please don't cry. Not again."

She fell over to her side slowly and curled up on the bed. Her head was facing down with her arms folded up against her chest as she wept. "Chloe…" she whispered in sobs. "Please come back to me."

Goddamn... it was so difficult seeing her like this. I'd be doing the same thing too if I'd lost her.

I crawled behind Max and spooned with her, trying my best not to have my arms and legs go through her body. "I'm right here," I whispered in her ear as she continued crying. I kissed her on the cheek, then we just laid there together.

A few minutes later, I saw Max reach for something in the box while she was still laid down. I looked over her shoulder just as she pulled out another photo, then she flipped it around and brought it closer to her face.

"Oh, me and Rachel," I started a little sadly. "It was our last photo together before she..."

"We found her, Chloe," Max said with a little smile as her crying stopped again. "We're having a proper funeral for Rachel next week. I'm so sorry you never got to find her… but in my heart, I know we found her together."

I nodded and smiled. "I remember everything that happened," I replied softly. "I don't know how that's possible, but I won't question it. You... came back to me, Max. We cherished every moment we had together that week before it was my time to go. The choice you made was hella difficult, but it was the right choice…"

Max placed the photo back in the box and sat down on the edge of the bed. I got up and sat next to her, gazing at the side of her face as she wiped more of her tears away. I slowly hovered the back of my hand up and down her cheek like I was gently caressing it.

"I wish I could kiss you again, Max," I said quietly.

She hung her head down sadly, then leaned forward and picked up the photo of us from the floor. Her lips began to tremble as she stared at it again, then her body started shaking. I could tell Max was about to have yet another break down. Fuck, was she ever going to stop? How much more could she take?

"Max…" I started softly as I watched a couple of fresh tears fall down her face. "I know you miss me, but you can't keep doing this to yourself."

She continued gazing at the photo until she wept loudly, then looked up at the ceiling as tears dripped down her chin. "Chloe, I can't live like this…" she said with heavy sobs. "I'm in so much pain..."

"Max! Stop!" I replied loudly.

She closed her eyes tight and cried even louder. "There's nothing left for me now…" she said, her voice full of heartache. She opened her eyes again and looked back down, gazing at the photo with a shaky hand. "Please, take me with you…"

Goddamn it! I couldn't stand to see her like that any longer! I clenched a fist in anger, then quickly took a swing at the photo and yelled; "Max! STOP IT!"

I couldn't believe it. My hand connected with the photo and sent it flying out of her hand! Holy shit!

She stopped crying instantly and gasped, then quickly crawled across the bed and curled up against the wall. She had a look of fear on her face as she glanced around the room, studying everything carefully. "I'm freaking out…" Max said quietly to herself with sniffles. "I must be..."

I stood up and stared down at her in surprise, then I looked at the photo that was now across the room on the floor. "What the fuck?! Did that actually happen?!" I said in amazement. "I just pulled a Patrick Swayze! I gotta try that again and get Max's attention, she needs to know I'm here!"

Max remained curled up in position as she continued glancing around. I walked up and down the room quickly, trying to find something small I could attempt to move with my hand again. I went over to Max's desk and saw an empty plastic cup sitting on the edge just waiting to get ghost-punched. I kneeled down at the side of the desk with the cup in my sight.

"You can do this, Chloe," I said to myself, rubbing my hands together. "You did it before and you can do it again, you just have to figure out how."

With a grunt, I quickly punched the cup and my hand went straight through it. I tried it again, still nothing. Then, I tried slapping it back and forth repeatedly. Nope. "There's gotta be a trick to this…" I said, staring down at my hands.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed Max was sitting on the edge of the bed again, going through her phone with that usual sad expression on her face. She must have convinced herself that it was all in her head when I knocked the photo out of her hand.

"Think, Chloe!" I said to myself as I gazed back at the cup. "How did you do it the first time? You got hella angry when Max kept crying her poor eyes out and…"

Then, it hit me. "Oh, of course!" I said happily. "I was filled with so much emotion when I smacked the shit out of that photo! Fuck, that is SO cheesy!" I laughed a little and shook my head, realizing how much of a nerd I was. "Alright… let's try a different emotion to see if I'm right."

I looked at the plastic cup again and closed my eyes, imagining me and Max swimming in the pool after we broke into Blackwell. We splashed each other and laughed, having a great time together despite everything we went through that week. "There's an otter in my water…" I whispered with a smile as a tear ran down my cheek. I opened my eyes again and pointed a finger at the cup, then I slowly reached forward to tip it over and… it fell to the floor!

The noise startled Max and I watched her stand up quickly from the bed, staring at where the cup had fallen as it rolled around before finally stopping at the leg of the desk.

"That's the power of love!" I said cheerfully, wiping another tear that fell. "Okay, Max… time to show you that not even death can rip us apart."

While she was looking away, I sat at the desk and stared down at a small notepad that was open on an empty page. There was also a pencil nearby. "Perfect," I said calmly, closing my eyes.

I concentrated on my love for Max, imagining her with me walking on the train tracks as we held hands to keep each other balanced. I opened my eyes and picked up the pencil, but it kept wobbling in my hand because it was so difficult to focus. I quickly wrote; "MAX" in big letters on the notepad, though the writing came out kind of squiggly. After that, I looked over my shoulder and waited for Max to turn her head back in my direction. When she finally did, I waved the pencil around for her to see, then placed it gently on the notepad.

"Holy crap!" she yelled out with a gasp as she stood up from the bed. She didn't look quite as scared as last time. After a moment, she slowly walked over and stood beside me, investigating the pencil. She picked it up and then noticed her name written on the notepad. She stared at it with her mouth parted a little, then looked around with a little smile as a tear went down her cheek.

"Chloe?" Max said, her voice breaking a little as another tear fell down. "Is that you?" She held the pencil up with a trembling hand while continuing to glance around. She added; "If that's you, then please... show me a sign."

I concentrated on Max giving me that long, farewell kiss before she had to make the most difficult choice of her life. That kiss... it was so beautiful, so full of love. It was our final moment together. "Fuck..." I whispered sadly as I felt the tears going down my face. I gently picked up the pencil from her hand, and this time, I was able to hold onto it perfectly.

Max appeared to look calm when she saw the pencil floating gently out of her hand and back to the desk. She put a hand over her mouth and began to cry gently as she stared at the pencil floating just above the notepad. "It's you, isn't it?" she said in a hopeful tone.

She was waiting for a sign that it was really me and I quickly thought of the perfect one. It was simple, full of meaning. "I love you so much, Max..." I said, crying softly with her as I drew an almost perfect heart under her name.

"Oh my God!" she cried out happily, burying her face in her hands as she wept. "Chloe! I knew it was you..."

I got up from the desk and hugged Max from behind... like, actually hugged her. This perfect moment was enough to give me everything I needed to concentrate as I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. She slowly took her hands away from her wet face and placed them down on my own hands, caressing them as we stood there, crying happily together. Take that, Death! Motherfucker.

"I love you," Max said softly with a heavy sob, holding my hands tight. "We were always meant to be together, forever..."

I kissed her on the top of her head and smiled, knowing she was right. "No complaints here," I whispered.


End file.
